Flames of a Sniper
by Biowolf
Summary: A girl who prefers sniper Zoids helps out the Guardian Force by tracking their enemies, but meets her match when she runs into Hiltz.


Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, but I do own some models of them.

Author's Notes: Hurray! The first Hiltz romance on ff.net!!! (I know I'm such a dork, but he's my favorite character) Takes place during Guardian Force, obviously, and starts right after the episode "The Steel Bison". I'm going to follow the order of the episodes starting with that one. Read and review please!

Flames of a Sniper

            A small group of Rev Raptors were gathered suspiciously in a clearing of a forest, completely unaware that they were being watched. They were on a mission to dig up and steal parts from Imperial sleeper Zoids that were left behind from the war. They had no idea that the Empire had already figured out what they were up to and had assigned a Zoid to track them down and put them out of business.

            The Zoid tracking them was developed by the Republic, but was given to the Empire as part of the weapons exchange program. This one-of-a-kind Zoid was the Konig Wolf, and the pilot was under the command of Guardian Force member Lieutenant Thomas Shubaltz himself. 

            The Konig Wolf shifted its position in the forest slightly to target a Rev Raptor properly. The cross-spectrum scanner attached to its neck flipped forward and covered the top of the its head. The dual sniper rifle pivoted five degrees to the left, and fired almost silently. The Rev Raptor toppled over from the impact of the bullet, causing the other Raptors to jump to attention and scan the forest immediately.

            The Konig Wolf targeted another Rev Raptor and fired again. This caused the remaining ones to panic and start firing blindly into the forest. All of their shots missed, and the Wolf took advantage of their confusion to shoot them down one by one until only two were left standing. The first Rev Raptor opened its blades and charged desperately into the forest, slicing down many trees in its path. The Konig Wolf flipped back its scanner and took off running towards the Raptor, dodging the trees along the way.

            The Rev Raptor didn't even stand a chance. The Wolf leapt out of the trees onto the Raptor's back, slicing into it with its claws and putting it out of commission. The last Raptor hissed angrily and opened fire, only to find that the Konig Wolf was equipped with a shield. It took off running with the Wolf in hot pursuit. The cross-spectrum scanner flipped forward again and the Wolf took aim, but the Rev Raptor suddenly jerked around and charged at the Wolf with its blades extended. The Wolf stopped in surprise, allowing the Rev Raptor to get extremely close.

            The Raptor leaned to the side and lined up its blades properly. The Konig Wolf pulled back at the last moment, but the Raptor's blade sliced through its left front leg, damaging it severely. The Wolf snarled ferociously and fired its rifle at it several times, making sure that the Rev Raptor got its just rewards for damaging its leg.

            "Damn it. Thomas is not going to like this," the pilot muttered, guiding the limping Konig Wolf through the trees towards the base Lieutenant Shubaltz was currently at.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

            "I thought you said you specialized in precision piloting!" Thomas yelled.

            "I'm sorry, Thomas. I made a mistake. It happens to everyone sometimes."

            Thomas sighed in frustration. He could never yell at her for long.

            "So…how long will it take to fix it?" The Konig Wolf's pilot asked.

            "I only took a quick look at it, but judging from the amount of damage I saw, especially the internal damage, I'd guess around a month," Thomas said.

            "That long, huh? I guess I'm just going to have to use my Gun Sniper for a while."

            Thomas nodded, "Yes, you'll have to. We can't afford to waste that amount of time. The Guardian Force is still looking for the red Organoid and its owner, not to mention that new blue Organoid that recently appeared."

            "I guess my assignment is still to try to track them down then?" 

            "Yes, that's right. We need all the help we can get, and it would be nice if there was a spy tailing our enemy. There aren't many people up for the job, so it's going to mainly be you and me. And that's fine," Thomas said, then muttered to himself, "As long as I don't have to work with that Van guy again."

            The red-haired green-eyed girl laughed, "You _really _don't like him, do you?"

            Thomas let her laugh for a moment before saying, "You may not be part of the Guardian Force, but we need to know the enemy's location. So get a move on already, Jessie!"

            "Don't throw a hissy fit about it, Thomas. I'm going," Jessie said and then left to find her Gun Sniper.

            It didn't take long for Jessie to get to the hangar where her Gun Sniper was being stored. She hadn't used it for some time and knew that it might take a while before she got used to it again. She wouldn't let that stand in her way, though. Thomas needed her to find the enemy, and she wasn't going to let him down.

            Jessie walked down the hangar looking for her Zoid. There weren't any Republican Zoids in this base besides her ones; it was an Imperial base after all. She finally found her Gun Sniper standing next to the damaged Konig Wolf and climbed up the stairs to the cockpit. 

            Her Gun Sniper was a bit different from other Snipers. It wasn't equipped with the Wild Wizel unit like some Snipers, but a weapon to help it in close combat; two blades. The blades were similar to the ones on a Blade Liger, only smaller. They had really saved her in some battles, since sometimes opponents got in too close for comfort.

            Jessie leapt into her Sniper and listened to the familiar hiss of the cockpit closing around her and the soft hum of the controls lighting up as she placed her Zoid gear into the slot. Jessie gripped the controls and steered her Zoid out of the base, turned east, and took off at a run. She knew that all the recent attacks happened around the border between the Empire and the Republic, so she figured that checking out some towns around there was a good idea.

            It took a few days for Jessie to reach the border. She checked out a few towns, but couldn't find any clues to the location of the enemy. The next town she visited, however, was where she found some important information. 

            When she first entered the town, she did the usual thing; go to a bar and see what she could find out from the gossip. She never drank anything with alcohol of course, but bars were a good place to get information. 

            She sat in a corner of the bar and listened in on the conversations going on around her. Most of the gossip was useless junk that people like to make up about each other, but she did hear some interesting stuff. Apparently, some bandits had taken over the forest on the nearby mountains. The town needed that forest because it was one of their important trade routes. 

            Jessie figured that the situation could mean one of two things; either the bandits were just regular bandits causing trouble, or they were "bandits" who took over the forest for a reason. Since she always liked to do things thoroughly, she chose the second one and decided to check it out. 

            The only problem was how to do it. None of the rumors Jessie had heard told her what kind of Zoids the "bandits" were using. She figured that the best way to find out was to simply go into the forest carefully. The bandits would probably find her, and hopefully she would be able to either corner one and question the pilot, or run away but then turn around and follow them from a distance to see where they would lead her.

            Jessie got up and walked towards the door. She had barely taken two steps out of the bar before she almost ran into a red-haired man.

            "Oh! Sorry about that," Jessie apologized.

            "It's not your fault," the man said as he stepped aside to let her pass.

            Jessie smiled thankfully at him as she walked past and headed for the edge of the town, where her Gun Sniper was parked. 

            _He seemed like a pretty nice guy_, she thought as she reached her Zoid. It was easy for Jessie to get in and out of her Gun Sniper. She had programmed it to rest on all four legs so that she had easy access to the head. 

            Jessie jumped into her Zoid and pushed the controls forward slightly, guiding it around the town and towards the mountain forest. It took a few minutes to get to the edge of the forest, but once she was in she had no trouble maneuvering around the trees. Gun Snipers were perfect for this sort of thing.

            She had a little fun and got used to the controls by making her Gun Sniper skip around the trees, but when she got to a clearing she decided to get serious. Jessie figured that the best course of action would be to let the bandits come to her instead of wasting energy by running around looking for them. She picked a nice spot between some trees and settled her Gun Sniper in it. 

            Jessie scanned the forest intensely for half an hour before she got bored. She leaned the seat back a bit and prepared to wait a long time, but suddenly her Zoid was slammed to the side. Jessie jerked forward and looked frantically around her, but didn't see anything. Her Sniper was shot again, but she still couldn't see where the enemy was.

            Her Gun Sniper was hit from behind next, making Jessie conclude that they had her surrounded. She pushed the controls forward and her Sniper set off at a run. If they were going to shoot at her, then she wouldn't make it easy for them.

            Dirt and trees blew up around Jessie's Zoid as she dashed through the forest. She figured that her enemies must be the bandits she had heard about, and now they were following her. She stopped for a moment to see if she could spot the enemy Zoids now, but she couldn't see anything and took a few hits too. Jessie tried to use the scanners to find the enemy, but her Zoid kept being hit, not giving her any time to use them. 

            "Well, what do I do now?!" she hissed to herself, but then came up with an idea. It was dangerous, but it might work. She would "surrender" to the "bandits" and see what they would do. Hopefully, they might take her to their hideout so she could see what they were up to. 

            Jessie moved her Sniper into a defensive position and stood there taking hits. Finally, the enemy stopped firing and she waited to see what would happen.

            A man's voice then came through the intercom, "What were you doing in this forest, sniper?"

            Jessie thought carefully before answering, "I came here to stop you!"

            The man who spoke before chuckled, "Well you didn't do too well, did you?"  
            "No, I guess not," Jessie said, careful to make it sound like she was disappointed.

            There was a pause before the man said, "Heh. Interesting Zoid you have…"

            It wasn't a question so Jessie didn't answer.

            The man continued, "I've never seen a Gun Sniper with blades before…but I like it. I think I'll just take it, maybe give it to the boss."

            "What!?" Jessie yelled, "But it's my Zoid!"

            The man laughed, "That doesn't matter out here, little girl. We play by our own rules."

            Jessie growled in frustration and yelled, "Well I'm not giving it up without a fight!"

            "You're already beaten!" The man said. 

            Suddenly Jessie's Gun Sniper was slammed down onto the ground. She pulled at the controls to get up, but couldn't, and figured that the "bandits" must be holding her down. They should be right on top of her, but she still couldn't see anything. That was when she realized that they were using stealth Zoids.

            Suddenly, the power went out in the cockpit of her Zoid. Jessie figured that the bandits must have somehow shut off the power so she couldn't radio for help. Her Zoid then started to be dragged along the ground through the forest. The bandits were obviously taking her to their hideout. Inside the cockpit of the Sniper, Jessie smirked happily. They had fallen for her plan.

            It took half an hour of being dragged through the forest before Jessie spotted what must be the bandit's base. It was just a few large tents near a mountain. There was also a large cave in the mountain, and it looked like the bandits were digging something up. Jessie wondered what they were digging up and why, and noticed that it was almost night.

            Jessie's Gun Sniper was dragged to the side of the smallest tent. Suddenly, a large group of Helcats became visible.

            "I thought they might be using Helcats," Jessie muttered to herself.

            The bandits jumped out of their Zoids and a few of them came towards the Gun Sniper. One of them hit a button on the Sniper's head and the cockpit opened. Jessie glared at all of them as two of the bandits grabbed her and dragged her out of her Zoid. She tried to kick at one of them, just to make sure that they understood that she was not happy, but all that did was cause the two that were holding her to tighten their grip. But Jessie made sure that she struggled as much as she could.

            The two bandits dragged her into the small tent, in which was only a small table with a two chairs on either side of it. The bandits forced her to sit in one of the chairs and then proceeded to tie her securely to it. After they were finished, they started to leave.

            "Hey! Where are you going?" Jessie yelled after them.

            One of the bandits turned around and said, "We're just going to leave you here until the boss tells us what to do with you."

            Although she knew it wouldn't do any good, she asked, "Well, who is your boss?"

            "Oh, you'll know soon enough. He's probably going to get here soon," the bandit said and then left.

            Once she was alone, Jessie tried to break out of the ropes, but couldn't. The "bandits" had tied her up pretty well. She looked around the room for anything sharp to cut the ropes with, but couldn't see anything that would get the job done. 

            She sighed and muttered to herself, "Well this didn't turn out exactly how I planned it to, but maybe I can still find out if these guys are more than just bandits. They certainly seem weird enough, but I still need to figure out if they are connected to the guy with the red Organoid. The only problem is that no one knows who the owner of that Organoid is, so I need to actually see the Organoid around these bandits before I can make any conclusions."

            Since there were no other options available, Jessie decided to just wait and see what would happen. After almost half an hour, she heard voices coming towards the tent she was in.

            "Are you sure she was alone?"

            "Yes sir. We're positive about that."

            "Is she connected to the Guardian Force?"

            "We don't know about that. We haven't interrogated her yet, since we were waiting for your orders, sir."

            Very well. Return to your posts; I'll deal with her alone."

            "Yes sir."

            Jessie heard a small group of people walking away, but there was one pair of footsteps coming closer. Then, a red-haired man walked into the tent.

            Jessie gasped in surprise, "Hey! I know you!"

            It was the same man she had almost ran into in town. He looked at her, then smirked.

            "So we meet again," he said.

            "You're the leader of these bandits?!"

            The man walked up next to her and said, "Yes, that's right, but I honestly didn't expect to see you here."

            Jessie studied him for a moment, frowned, then asked, "Who _are_ you?"

            "You can call me Hiltz. And you are…?"

            Since he had told her his name, she guessed she should at least tell him her first name.

            "I'm Jessie."

            "Well then, Jessie, what exactly were you trying to accomplish by letting yourself be captured and brought here?" Hiltz asked with a smirk.

            Jessie glared at him. Somehow he had figured out that she had let herself be captured, but she hadn't stored any information in her Gun Sniper that would tell him that, so how did he know?

            Before she could come up with a good lie, a low growl came from the entrance of the tent. As Hiltz turned around, Jessie saw the source of the growl. It was the red Organoid.

            "What is it, Ambient?" Hiltz asked.

            The Organoid growled again. Jessie figured that the Organoid must belong to Hiltz. And that meant that these "bandits" were connected to him and the Organoid, so it was now officially business that the Guardian Force should deal with. Jessie had to contact Thomas somehow.

            "I see," Hiltz said, then turned to Jessie, "I'll have to deal with you later."

            He left with the red Organoid, leaving Jessie completely confused, but determined to contact Thomas. She struggled hard against the ropes and found that they had loosened a bit. She focused all her energy into pulling one hand free, and succeeded. She then untied her other hand and freed herself from the ropes.

            Jessie got up and snuck quietly to the entrance of the tent. She listened carefully for any sign that there were guards outside, but could hear none. She slipped silently out of the tent and looked around for her Gun Sniper, which was thankfully still close to the tent. Jessie could see a few of the "bandits" walking around the huge cave in the mountain, so she had to make this quick.

            Jessie dashed to her Sniper and opened the cockpit, attracting the attention of the "bandits" near the cave. They yelled in alarm and started to run towards her. She quickly powered up the cockpit and accessed the communication controls. The bandits had almost reached her now, and there were more coming out of the cave. She saw Hiltz and the Organoid "Ambient" too. She picked an Imperial frequency and managed to yell, "The bandits on the mountain-" before one of the "bandits" leapt at her and covered her mouth. 

            Jessie struggled to get free, but more of the bandits came to restrain her, and she was dragged out of her Zoid to stand before an amused Hiltz.

            "It seems that I underestimated you," he told her.

            Since a bandit was still covering her mouth, she bit down on his hand causing him to yelp and jerk his hand away. 

            She glared at Hiltz, "Yeah, you did."

            Hiltz was wearing his usual cocky smirk. He turned to the bandits holding her and ordered, "Throw her in a cell."

            "Yes sir," the bandits said and dragged Jessie to a nearby large tent. Inside the tent were a few large cages. The bandits opened one and shoved her inside, locking it behind her.

            "You won't get away with this!" Jessie yelled at them as they left, but they ignored her.

            She didn't have anything to pick the lock of the cage with, so her only option was to wait and hope that Thomas came to help her. 

            After what seemed like an eternity, Hiltz walked into the tent and sat down in a chair across from the cage Jessie was in. For a moment they just studied each other; Jessie glaring Hiltz and Hiltz just watching her calmly.

            Finally, Hiltz said, "You never answered my question."

            "What question was that?" Jessie asked.

            "Why did you let yourself be captured?"

            She hesitated before answering, "I don't think that's any of your business."

            Hiltz smirked at her, "I think it is."

            "So? I don't care what you think, and I'm not telling you anything."

            "In case you forgot, you're the one who's locked up in a cage and I'm the who's not."

            "I don't see how that makes any difference," she countered.

            "Really? Well I hope you realize that I could _make_ you talk," he said.

            "Well then why don't you try?" Jessie asked, knowing that whatever he did, she would never talk because Thomas once made her promise not to.

            Hiltz answered, "I'm just trying to be nice."

            "I don't see how locking someone up in a cage is being nice."

            "You're the one who intentionally came into this forest. It's your fault you're locked up."

            "You're the one who ordered these 'bandits' to take over this mountain which blocked that town's important trading route."

            "That's right," Hiltz said and then grinned, "But you're the one who decided to investigate something that doesn't concern you."

            "Well if you hadn't blocked the trade route then I wouldn't have investigated!"

            "It still was your choice to check out something that doesn't concern you."

            Desperate to come up with a good reply to keep up with Hiltz, Jessie said, "It does concern me since Thomas asked me to!"

            Hiltz grinned triumphantly, "Thomas? Thomas Shubaltz of the Guardian Force?"

            Jessie realized her mistake too late, and desperately tried to correct it, "No! That's wrong! I haven't even met that Thomas!"

            But Hiltz wasn't convinced, "Thank you, Jessie. You've told me exactly what I needed to know."

            Jessie glared furiously at him, "I _hate_ you."

            Hiltz smiled pleasantly at her and said, "That's nice."

            Jessie continued to glare at him, but knew that he had beaten her…this time.

            "I'll get you back for this," she hissed at him.

            "I'm sure you will," Hiltz said, still playing with her.

            Jessie gave him the middle finger, but it didn't seem to phase him. He got up and walked over to a box and took out a pillow and a blanket. He carried them back to her cage and shoved them through the bars.

            "Get some sleep," he said.

            "You'll get what's coming to you," she declared as he walked towards the entrance of the tent.

            Hiltz paused when he heard that and turned to look at her. She glared at him again, and he smiled and said, "Good night."

            Once Hiltz had left, Jessie sat down and silently cursed him. How she would love to wipe that cocky little smirk off his face…and she promised herself that she would. He had tricked her, and she wanted to get back at him badly.

            Jessie decided that it would do her no good to sit there and plot revenge now, so she grabbed the pillow and blanket Hiltz had given her and went to sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

            When Jessie woke up it was late in the afternoon. She could tell by the small amount of light coming into the tent through the entrance. She wasn't surprised that she had slept so long since she was awake for most of last night. 

            She wondered if anyone was going to bring her food or water, but it didn't seem like it after a few hours passed and no one showed up even to check if she was still there. When it started to get dark, Jessie finally decided that the "bandits" and Hiltz were just going to leave her there to die.

            She waited a bit more, but nothing happened. Then, she heard voices outside. One of them she recognized at Hiltz's and another belonged to…Thomas! He had received her transmission! Jessie grinned happily. Thomas was going to save the day!

            But as she listened some more, she figured out that Thomas and another guy, maybe Van Freiheit, had been captured by Hiltz and his men. Hiltz ordered for them to be shot, and it sounded like they were about to fight back when there was a loud thump. Then, a girl's voice told the "bandits" to put down their weapons. Hiltz wasn't impressed though, and it sounded like he ordered his Organoid to attack.

            The girl screamed and there was gunfire. Then the girl, Thomas, and the other guy all screamed and it sounded like they were running away. Jessie next heard an Organoid's roar and then an explosion. Hiltz ordered his men to go after them.

            Jessie listened hard, but couldn't hear anything else. She waited for a while and then heard the footsteps of two large Zoids approaching. The Zoids stopped and she waited while listening carefully. After a few minutes, she heard voices talking, one of which belonged to Thomas. 

            She yelled, "Thomas!? Can you hear me?!"

            "Jessie!? Is that you?!" she heard Thomas yell back.

            "Yeah! I'm in a large tent!" 

            She heard footsteps running towards her tent and then Thomas came through the entrance. He was followed by a guy Jessie recognized to be Van Freiheit and a girl, probably Fiona.

            "There you are! I got your transmission. Good job!" Thomas said.

            "Yeah, thanks, Thomas, but can you get me out of this cage?" she asked.

            Oh! Sure thing," he said, grabbed a key hanging on a nearby hook, and unlocked the cage.

            "Thanks, Thomas. I was getting worried that you wouldn't show up," she said.

            Thomas smiled, "I would never let you die. And thanks to you, we were able to stop Hiltz and free this mountain."

            Jessie smiled back at him, "Your welcome." 

            Thomas led all of them out of the tent and they said their goodbyes. Thomas had another assignment to complete and Van and Fiona were going to some ruins to see if they could find any clues about Zoid Eve. And as for Jessie, well, she was determined to get back at Hiltz.


End file.
